Hastings, Young push bill to open ANWR to drilling

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings of Washington and Rep. Don Young of Alaska said in a release that the "Alaska Energy for American Jobs Act" will be part of a jobs bill recently announced by House Speaker John Boehner.

… But environmentalists say some of the figures used to tout the potential benefit of opening the refuge are exaggerated, and they see this as nothing more than the same push for drilling that's been made off and on for years.

… While Congress would have to allow drilling in areas like the refuge, Alaska's Department of Natural Resources has said drilling on nearby state leases could allow developers to draw untapped oil from beneath the federal lands.